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Genopolitics: Does Your DNA Define Your Ideology?

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Could your fundamental political beliefs be a result of your genetic makeup? Could things like the way your brain reacts to seratonin make you more, or less likely to vote?

On Thursday's show we'll talk to James Fowler, a University of San Diego researcher who has done some ground-breaking work combining genetics with social and political science. He's identified two genes that seem to be involved in helping shape our political philosophy.

Fowler has written some very scholarly papers, like this one (PDF), that lay out his case. It's pretty technical stuff. But we'll do our best to have him explain this in a way that you and I can understand.

Meanwhile, if you can't understand why your brother-in-law's politics are so different than your own, maybe now you can find a little comfort in the fact that he's not simply unenlightened. It's just his molecular biology.